Union Cabinet nearly trebles the salaries of SC, HC judges

NEWDELHI: The monthly salary of the Chief Justice of India has been raised from ₹100,000 to ₹280,000, and those of his fellow judges in the Supreme Court and of Chief Justices of the high courts, from ₹90,000 to ₹250,000, in keeping with the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission.
The decisions were cleared by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday and law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government would introduce two bills in Parliament to effect the pay hikes.
The decision will also benefit retired judges (whose pensions will now increase), and judges of the high courts.
All told, 25 judges in the Supreme Court (the sanctioned strength is 31), 682 judges in the high courts (the sanctioned
strength is 1,079), and around 2,500 retired judges will now see an increase in their monthly salary or pension.
In India, judges are relatively underpaid. Their salaries have increased only three times in 65 years. Judges’ pay were roughly doubled in 1986, trebled in 1998 and trebled once again in 2009, with retrospective effect from 2006.